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Plants to suit your home
With the help of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG), Gardening Which? suggests plants to compliment the look of your home
Thatched Cottage
In Tudor times, plants were often used for medicinal purposes. Rosemary, for example, was used for 'weakness of the brain'. Lavender (pictured left) edged paths and was used in the knot gardens of grander houses along with box and cotton lavender. Flowers such as caraway thyme were used for flavour, and pinks added spice to wine.
Today, the cottage garden is informal and packed with plants, often mixing flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables (traditionally, gardens were used to supply food too). Hard landscaping is minimal and in keeping with the house. Paths can be made from old bricks, for example. Key plants include hollyhocks, honeysuckle, rambling roses, phlox, achillea and alchemilla.
Suggested plants:
- Rosemary eg Rosmarinus 'Sudbury Blue'
- Lavender eg Lavandula angustifolia
- Box (buxus)
- Cotton lavender (santolina)
- Caraway thyme (Thymus herba-barona)
- Pinks eg Dianthus 'Pheasant's Eye'
- Hollyhock
- Honeysuckle
- Delphinium
- Phlox (pictured right)
- Achillea
- Rambling rose
- Hardy geranium
Victorian and Edwardian
Queen Victoria's reign saw a huge influx of plants such as camellias, magnolias (pictured left), rhododendrons and ferns, brought back by globe-trotting plant hunters. Colourful exotics such as pelargoniums, lobelias, dahlias and cannas were used in bedding schemes in parks and gardens, and evergreens such as spotted laurel were popular. The invention of the lawnmower meant that gardens could have manicured lawns.
From the turn of the century, the garden designer Gertrude Jekyll was influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement and used perennials like elephant's ears, Madonna lilies and delphiniums to create relaxed but carefully orchestrated and colour-themed borders. Furniture and landscaping materials were rustic brick or stone, and layouts were formal with paths, clipped hedges, pergolas and pools.
Suggested plants:
- Camellia and rhododendron
- Magnolia
- Ferns
- Wisteria
- Pelargonium
- Lobelia
- Canna
- Japanese laurel eg Aucuba japonica 'Picturata'
- Elephant's ears
- Madonna lilies
- Delphinium
- Iris
- Lamb's ears
- Gladioli
- Catmint (nepeta)
- Astrantia eg Astrantia major var rosea 'George's Form'
- Hyacinth
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